I'm just curious about what people have to say.I recently started looking into going to Japan, but the requirements (most the language one) are pretty steep and no local school offers college-level Japanese. So, I also grabbed a ton of literature on other countries I could go to if I can't go to Japan.

My mom's trying to talk me into England or France, so she could "visit" but really just go on vacation.My Spanish is decent so Spain seems interesting (there was also a brochure on Mexico, but I'd rather not die)Germany's my runner-up after Japan, because it does seem the most different from the US.I like to imagine being asked how things are, while I'm in Australia and just responding: "It's really hot and spiders!"Then something similar with Canada, but it being cold and with mooses.

There was literature on a lot more place, like China, Tiawan, South Korea, and Isreal.

And if it helps, I'm an Econ major looking for a complete change as far away from home as possible.I should also add that I have at least two years before I can qualify, so I have time to meet language requirements.

What is your purpose in studying abroad? This more than anything else will determine where you should go.

I would caution against Japan. Their economy has been stagnant for over two decades. The country is faced with political paralysis. There have been 6 prime ministers in 7 years. No one has a plan for sorting out the future. They have no industries that you would learn anything useful about as a student that you couldn't learn from a magazine back home.

As someone who did a study abroad program in Japan: In my experience educational programs in Japan at the university level are a joke. I had a wonderful experience meeting lovely people and getting my cultural immersion in but honestly I'm not sure I learned much from my actual classes (other than my Japanese class of course). In my Japanese economics class, I slacked off terribly compared to how I was used to working in uni and still ended up being one of the most studious people in the class. The challenge for Japanese teens is to get into college. Once they're there, the expectations are quite low.

Don't be one of those people who goes to Japan to study anime, manga, or video games. Or green tea and onsens. Not saying you are, but these days, I expect those are the majority of the people you'll be studying with.

If you want a Japan-like experience, I strongly recommend Taiwan or Korea. Both countries have cultures with similarities to Japan (or at least more similar than mainland China), and both countries will allow you to have an East Asian experience without dealing with national censorship. Both countries are also movers and shakers in the world economy. And if you can get into a program in Taiwan that teaches you Mandarin, then you will learn a language that actually matters on the world stage.

Oh, and one more thing. The Yen is fairly strong compared to its history against the Dollar. That means it's not so bad being someone earning money in Japan and sending it home. It's a very bad time to be taking money earned outside Japan and paying for things in the country (like tuition). The same amount of money just doesn't buy as much as it used to, and perks are getting cut constantly.

Unless you go out in the wild looking for them, I doubt you're going to see a moose in Canada. And depending on which part of the country you go to, it won't necessarily get all that cold in the winter.

you should come to Australia...and more specifcially Perth! we got like....a belltower'n shit

There is a good pro for going to Perth. UWA is in the worlds top 100 universities. It's the only one in Australia to make that list I believe. Many overseas students want to get in. Downside is it's competitive.

Germany is nice. BUT this one is huge. You need to take a German test as proof you can speak the language.

There is a good pro for going to Perth. UWA is in the worlds top 100 universities. It's the only one in Australia to make that list I believe. Many overseas students want to get in. Downside is it's competitive. .

Japan would probably be the best choice, since you'd learn the language rapidly there. But anyway, you should come to New Zealand! It's just like Australia, only not so hot and not nearly so full of danger. We're also sister-countries with Japan, so nearly every course you'd take would get you to an exchange there with another university. And the flight won't be too long, since it's just up north. Our languages are English and a small bit of Maori (which has the same root as Japanese, so it's pronounced exactly the same), and our culture is laid-back as, bro.

you should come to Australia...and more specifcially Perth! we got like....a belltower'n shit

There is a good pro for going to Perth. UWA is in the worlds top 100 universities. It's the only one in Australia to make that list I believe.

Who's list?

THE World University Rankings 2012-2013

(28)University of Melbourne, (37) Australian National University, (190) University of Western Australia - 8th of Group of 8 unis

Academic Ranking of World Universities 2012

(57) University of Melbourne, (64) Australian National University, (96) University of Western Australia - 5th of Group of 8 unis

QS World University Rankings 2012

(24) Australian National University, (36) University of Melbourne, (79) University of Western Australia - 7th of Group of 8 unis

Of course, some of us have to struggle on at 'lesser' universities... Even I will be going to the lowerst ranked Group of 8 uni this year (that's University of Adelaide for those what don't know) but it beats University of South Australia (where I've studied before, glorified TAFE that it is).

New Zealand. Different yet we speak english and have a diverse range of cultures.Education standards here are very high too.No crazy heat and spiders are normal sized. None of those mutants the Australians get.

Why pick 1? I'm set to go to Germany, France, and Spain through study abroad program (maybe even more than that xD). There's literally no limit on how many times you can go, and in canada at least they give you a nice little pile of money just for going, though that's probably a universal practice for the program.

If you have some Spanish going to a Spanish-speaking country would be a great way to develop your Spanish too (plus "i learnt Spanish in Spain" just looks plain good on a resume)

Also Germany has a great "Work Abroad" program (im not sure who else has it.. france/spain didnt), where you work part time and they pay for room/board (in addition to actually getting paid), so basically you pay the same as you would for a normal school year and you get an even more immersive experience.Plus in addition to the Certificate in International Competency, or w/e thats been renamed too, you get another certificate for international employment experience, also called something else.. but same idea. So two certificates worth 18 credits apiece plus the other 15 credits (5 classes) all in one semester, it's just plain breaking the system xD (though you can only get the certificates once as far as i know)

Go somewhere that is best for your field of study going abroad is extremely expensive get the most out of your education. Also if you want a really different culture don't bother with Canada since the US and Canada share nearly the same culture. Some other Canadians will disagree with me but really at the end of the say we all know it is true sure we may have some different values but things are not that different.

you should come to Australia...and more specifcially Perth! we got like....a belltower'n shit

There is a good pro for going to Perth. UWA is in the worlds top 100 universities. It's the only one in Australia to make that list I believe. Many overseas students want to get in. Downside is it's competitive.

Germany is nice. BUT this one is huge. You need to take a German test as proof you can speak the language.

As you know Spanish you might as well use it and go to Spain.

Bullshit. ANU and UM both beat it by a mile.

You are talking out of your arse.

OT: I would personally go to Australia and go to ANU (The campus is better than UM), but you can't go wrong with Germany or Spain.

Okay as someone currently on a year abroad in Germany, this is important, unless you're going somewhere with a high percentage of English speaking students, or is set up to take in lots of English speaking students, it's really best to go to a country where you have strong language skills.

It's just that much harder to make friends if you're struggling to quickly speak in a conversation. And German isn't an easy language to learn, although a lot of the vocabulary is very similar to English.

I wouldn't say that Germany is the most dissimilar from the US either, I've never been to the USA but Germany is probably easily the country in Europe most similar to Britain. They've got our drinking culture and we're fairly similar people with similar levels of openness (although thats definitely not true of the US and Britain =D), whereas Spanish people genuinely behave a little differently.

Also German food is boring. It's meat and salad (often weird salads with Gherkins). Always. But absolutely everyone is fluent in English (including a homeless person, who had a conversation with me in perfect English)

The only factor I know about Spain is that the stories of it's economy being bad right now really aren't exaggerated. People are struggling to find jobs and everything is being cut to the bone. In some ways this can be a good thing, because everything is becoming very cheap, my friend on a year abroad in Spain said you can basically just turn up and find a house within a week (although halls are better because you have more people around you)

Other than that, have fun, it can be an absolutely brilliant experience and many other people who've went away have wanted to come back. But consider everything carefully because it's not impossible to have a less happy time. There's a lot to pick up in a very short time period and a lot of things will be harder than they normally are. If you happen to be a fairly shy person, I really would recommend an English speaking country, but otherwise I hope you have a fantastic time wherever you go.

Which is in itself quite an accomplishment since there were nearly three hours between the ninja and yourself...

OT: In case you would consider the Netherlands as an option, all Masters degrees are (supposed to be) taught in English here (in practice this isn't always the case, so try to check before signing up). On the other hand if you want to learn a new language stay away, at the first sign of non-perfect Dutch most people will switch to English immediately giving you no chance to learn out language.

I'm going to say come to Sweden! Because I'd be unpatriotic if I didn't =P

Although our universities aren't too shabby - haven't gone myself so can't really give a educated (ha!) opinion. And English is like a second language here, haha. I do believe a lot of courses are even given in English, and/or have a lot of English text books.

Otherwise, since you're looking to go as far away as possible, Australia and New Zealand do sometimes feel like they're on a totally different planet from the rest of us considering how often we hear news from that part of the world. Just don't get eaten by their wildlife and you should be fine. (Beware the dropbears!)